India and Israel will begin negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) after concluding a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT), Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said in Tel Aviv on Thursday, as both countries moved to revive long-pending trade talks and widen sector partnerships.
Speaking after the signing of terms of reference for the FTA process, Goyal said the BIT and the proposed FTA together are expected to expand market access, improve the flow of capital and investments, and ease trade in goods and services. He said the two agreements would also aim to remove obstacles to doing business and bring greater clarity and predictability to economic engagement.
Goyal also said both sides have agreed to keep sensitive sectors outside the scope of the trade pact where required. “When friends do business together, they understand each other… whatever is sensitive for Israel, India will keep those out of the FTA and likewise for India,” he said, adding that the aim is a “win-win agreement” that creates opportunities for youth and farmers and supports sectors such as defence, technology and manufacturing.
Goyal described India and Israel as strategic partners and said the proposed deal would seek to capture trade complementarities between the two economies. He added that the framework would act as a “force multiplier” for both countries.
The minister highlighted India’s innovation and capacity base in pitching investment opportunities to Israeli businesses, citing India’s annual output of STEM graduates, a robust intellectual property regime, and a large startup ecosystem. He also referred to India’s ongoing build-out of data centres and the national clean-energy expansion planned for 2030.
Goyal said India and Israel already work closely in defence and in areas such as agritech, fintech, education, space technologies, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, and that cooperation could deepen further across these sectors.
Israel’s Minister of Economy Nir Barkat said at the summit that India’s rapid scaling and infrastructure build-out over the past three years had opened new opportunities for collaboration. He said the FTA framework signed on Thursday could enable the two sides to pursue a wider range of commercial ideas and joint initiatives.
Barkat also framed defence and deep-tech cooperation as an extension of the two countries’ strategic alignment. Referring to Israel’s recent conflict, Barkat said Israel had developed new capabilities and innovations in defence and intelligence, but added that some details were better not discussed publicly. He said Israel shares such ideas only with close partners, and described India as “one of the best friends Israel has around the world,” according to his remarks at the summit.
Goyal framed India as a platform ready for Israeli investment and technology.
He cited India’s annual output of 2.4 million STEM graduates, a strong intellectual property regime, and the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem. He also pointed to India’s data-centre build-out and a national clean-energy framework aimed at 500 GW by 2030.
Barkat put a blunt ambition on the table: raise bilateral trade from about $3 billion to $30 billion.
Goyal went further: aspire for $30–40 billion in five years, then expand at least ten-fold to $65–70 billion in a decade.
Goyal is leading a 60-member Indian business delegation in Israel for meetings with senior leadership and industry representatives. The delegation includes large Indian companies and firms across pharmaceuticals, agritech, defence, construction and e-commerce.
The India–Israel FTA negotiations were first launched in May 2010 and have gone through eight rounds, with talks formally revived in October 2021.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
